A 38-year-old miner was earlier today (Tuesday), remanded to prison by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan when he appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts slapped with a murder charge.
James Allen of Two Friends Village, East Coast Demerara was not required to plead to the indictable charge. The court heard that that between June 28, 2018, and July 8, 2018, at Thomas Island, Bartica, Allen murdered his lover, Petal Hafez.
According to the facts presented, the woman’s skeletal remains were recently discovered at a trail in Bartica, Puruni River, Region Seven.
He was remanded to prison and the matter was transferred to the Bartica Magistrate’s Court for August 16.
On Saturday last Police exhumed the remains of the victim to facilitate a post-mortem examination.
According to Pathologist, Dr. Nehaul Singh he was unable to determine the cause of death but noted a crack of the skull. As such, his findings are inconclusive.
Speaking with a section of the media on Monday last, Hafez’s daughter explained that her mother left home about the second week in May for Thomas Island, Puruni and they last heard from her on June 28.
A Police source close to investigations revealed that the case jacket was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Chambers for advice.
After the discovery, the Police held Allen for questioning.
The badly decomposed body was found in a shallow grave. A bag containing the woman’s clothes was also found close to the body. It was reported that a security personnel stumbled upon the remains while heading to an internet cafe to make a telephone call. He, however, reported the findings to the Police a few days later. As such, a party of Police ranks was dispatched to the scene to conduct preliminary investigations.
Due to its present state, identification of the body — clad only in a brassiere and still having some amount of flesh — was not possible.
On this note, the aggrieved daughter noted that samples of the remains were sent overseas to determine the identity of the remains. The daughter is positive the remains are that of her mother.
